Medical installations, which are used, for example, for imaging diagnosis or for therapies, such as angiographic equipment and radiation therapy equipment, very frequently comprise mobile device parts which are arranged in the examination room. These device parts are moved by automatic or at least partially automatic or manual control. One example to mention is a C-arm in X-ray units or patient tables.
The movement of the device parts of medical installations of this kind is partially achieved by means of high-power drive units. The mobile device parts can therefore, for example in the case of carelessness on the part of the operator, injure or damage the patient, other parts of the installation or other people, in particular in the event of a collision with a heavy or fast-moving device part. This is in particular problematic with those modern systems in which there is a plurality of possible movements of the individual installation parts, which are difficult to assess at first glance. Hereby, collisions can result in serious damage or injuries.
Nowadays, it is normal for the operator, that is, for example, an imaging technician or a correspondingly trained doctor, to perform a slow preliminary examination and thereby ensure that no collision occurs. The imaging or examination or therapy is then performed in real time.
Known from DE 102 00 534 is a method for the collision-free movement of at least two objects that can be moved toward each other in which the sequence of movement is simulated on a screen. The operator is shown any possibly risky movement sequences. The simulation relates to the components of an examination device.
Also known is a device for X-ray examination with an arrangement for preventing collisions according to DE 693 27 436. With this device, in the event of a collision, the increase in the power of an electromotive drive unit is determined and thereby a collision recognized by comparison with a threshold value.
The medical installation in DE 196 25 409 offers the possibility of using a neuronal network to monitor the individual components of a medical installation with respect to the risk of a collision. This enables the components of the medical installation known to the system control to be detected. Further devices and equipment in the area such as tool trolleys or people and other objects and the patient are not detected.
WO 2006/025003 describes the possibility of attaching a capacitive layer to a moving X-ray stand which changes as an object is approached and which recognizes a collision via downstream electronics.
However, all these systems have drawbacks to the effect that a collision first has to take place, so that a movement is interrupted or that only certain parts of the medical installation are included in the monitoring. There is no protection for other devices or people.